


Petie's Going on an Adventure

by classicalreader313



Series: Long Walk Week 2020 [2]
Category: The Long Walk - Richard Bachman
Genre: Family, Gen, morning before the walk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:28:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23956132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/classicalreader313/pseuds/classicalreader313
Summary: "McVries gave his bedroom- the place he’d lived for the last 16 years- one last cursory glance before turning to leave. He stepped out into the hallway, and closed the door behind him. The sound of the door clicking shut was impossibly loud in the silence of the house. It sounded like a nail being driven into his own coffin."The morning of the walk, McVries says goodbye to his family.
Relationships: Peter McVries & Katrina McVries
Series: Long Walk Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726735
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2
Collections: Long Walk Week 2020





	Petie's Going on an Adventure

It was 11:30 when there was a knock on the door. A hush fell over the living room. The three people awake in the house all immediately looked to the front door. Just a moment ago, McVries’s father had been in the middle of telling him off- telling him he was stupid, and the  _ Walk  _ was stupid, and he couldn’t go, and asking  _ why  _ would he  _ do _ something like this. But the knock on the door had subdued him. His face was still red but he was silent, his angry hands dropping to rest at his sides. McVries was standing opposite his father, in the doorway that led into the kitchen. His fists were clenched at his side- he was feeling defiant but he didn’t know why. His throat felt raw from yelling back at his dad, but mostly he felt defeated at this point. A heaviness weighed on him. Whether on the Long Walk, or bound in the basement of the snack stand at his dad’s drive-in movie theater, there was no hope for him. 

No one could hide from the Major.

His mother sat on the couch, one hand pressed to her face and eyes red with falling tears. She had looked between the two of them- her husband and her son- with nervous sideways glances. Now, she looked to the door with frightened eyes, clasping both hands over her mouth as she tried to swallow down her sobs. The only sound in the room was the TV, a low humming of voices. It was switched to the news, playing coverage of the Long Walk- the Long Walk that started tomorrow, and that McVries would- against all odds- be a part of. 

The knock came again, louder this time and more forceful. A high, squeaking sound bubbled up from his mother’s throat, and this time the three exchanged glances. Even his dad looked scared this time- speaking against the Long Walk was easily a Squadable offense. What exactly had the person on the other side of the door heard?

Abruptly, McVries’s mother stood, smoothing down her hair and wiping her eyes. She walked to the door, hesitating with one hand on the handle for a moment, before she unlocked it and pulled it open. On the other side of the door, towering over the silhouette of his mother, McVries could see two soldiers, stone faced with guns clearly clipped at their sides. The soldiers said nothing, but McVries knew what they were here for.

His dad, spluttering, finally found his voice again. “Petie, you better go upstairs and get your Boy Scout pack,” he said. Under normal circumstances, the absurdity of that one sentence would’ve made him laugh, but McVries just gave a sober nod and headed up the stairs. He was scared that nerves would turn his legs to jelly and he’d trip over his own feet, but he made it upstairs and entered his room, going immediately for the backpack that he’d packed just an hour or two before, when he first got the call. 

He straightened up, slinging the backpack over one shoulder. It hit him that he was in his bedroom for probably the last time. His oil paints and canvases were stacked in one corner, his bed was unmade, his school books were piled on his desk. On his will were pinned photos of his friends and family, and one picture of him and Priscilla that he couldn’t bear to part with. Even now, it hurt to look at it.

He gave his bedroom- the place he’d lived for the last 16 years- one last cursory glance before turning to leave. He stepped out into the hallway, and closed the door behind him. The sound of the door clicking shut was impossibly loud in the silence of the house. It sounded like a nail being driven into his own coffin.

Up ahead on his right, the door to his sister’s room was ajar. McVries walked over and peered in. Inside, his mother was zipping up a warm coat over his sister’s pajamas while Katrina yawned and wiped at her eyes. Her dark brown hair was tangled from sleep. She had gone to bed at 7:00 PM- it must be past midnight now.

“Mom, what’s going on?” McVries asked.

His mother looked up at him. “We’re all coming.” McVries opened his mouth to protest- Katrina’s just a  _ kid,  _ she’s  _ four years old,  _ she shouldn’t be around this- but his mother just shook her head. “Go downstairs, Petie. We’ll be ready in a minute.”

When he went downstairs, the front door was open, and his dad was out on the porch, smoking a cigarette with the soldiers. None of them spoke. McVries joined them, arms crossed over his chest to ward off the late April chill. He checked his watch. It was 12:23 in the morning. May 1 st . Make that early May chill…

His dad blew clouds of smoke into the night air. McVries watched the smoke float higher and higher, and then dissipate and disappear. The only sound around them was the chirping of crickets, and the low buzz of the TV. No one had turned it off. 

It was only a few minutes before his mother emerged from the house, holding onto Katrina with one hand and carrying a small suitcase with the other. It looked like she was in this for the long haul. 

His dad stubbed out his cigarette and took the suitcase from his mom, and then the four of them were herded into the back of a truck that would take them to the airport. The soldiers still hadn’t said anything, and they drove at a fast but controlled speed. 

In the back, his parents weren’t saying anything either. Katrina was in his mother’s lap, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep again. Her hair was still a tangled mess.

For a moment, McVries wished he was a smoker. He needed something- anything- to calm his nerves. Maybe he could ask the soldiers. But then he looked at his father- at his jittery hands and the frightened pallor of his face- and figured that maybe it wouldn’t do him any good.

* * *

Within a half hour of leaving the house, they were in a plane taking off, heading towards Presque Island, Maine. McVries had never been in a plane before, and as much as he wanted to look out over the clouds and watch the lights of New Jersey grow dimmer and dimmer, he knew he needed to rest. In eight hours, the Long Walk would start. One hundred boys would start walking, and McVries would be one of them. He needed to get some sleep.

Katrina was curled up in the seat next to him. “Petie, are you going on an adventure?” she asked in a small voice. She may have been only four, but she knew that something was wrong. 

“Yeah, Katrina,” he said, looking away from the window to face her. “Something like that.”

She nodded sleepily, and then pushed her tangled hair out of her face.

“Hey, let me help you with that,” he offered, and Katrina turned so her back was to him. They didn’t have a hairbrush, so he used his fingers to gently untangle her hair and work the knots free.

“Ow, Petie!” she whined when he tugged at a particularly tight knot. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he soothed. “Give me your hair tie.”

She handed it to him, and he quickly braided her hair. Katrina smiled, touching her fingers to the end of her braid, and settled back into her seat. “Thanks, Petie.”

“You’re welcome, Kat,” he answered. She was asleep within a few moments. McVries leaned back in his seat and tried to sleep as well.

* * *

McVries floated in and out of a deep sleep for the entirety of the five hour plane ride. One time when he woke up, his parents were speaking in hushed voices in the seats in front of him.

“We’ll get a motel room up there. We’ll stay until it… ends.” That was his father’s voice.

There was the sound of quiet tears. “I don’t want Katrina to see this. She’s too young to even know what’s going on.”

McVries fell back asleep after that.

* * *

The time between the plane landing and getting into the rental car that would take him up to the border passed in a blur. For the first half of the drive from Presque Island, McVries was fast asleep, his cheek resting against the car window. Now, still half-asleep, he sat in the backseat next to Katrina, while his parents were up front with his dad driving. It was too late now for his dad to try to turn back, and surely there were soldiers trailing them anyways. 

It was after 7:00 AM at that point, and the sun was rising up over the pine trees that thickly lined either side of the highway. Katrina stirred in her seat and awoke. “Petie’s going on an adventure,” she said sleepily, wiping at her eyes. Her hair was still securely in the braid that McVries had done hours ago.

McVries thought he should say something to her, give her some kind of advice or wisdom. He was her older brother, and he’d probably never see her again. He had to say  _ something.  _ But when he opened his mouth, only a choked sound came out, and McVries immediately looked back out the window, blinking back tears.

In the front seat, his parents exchanged pained looks. 

Katrina kept grinning and chanting, “Petie’s going on an adventure! Petie’s going on an adventure!” over and over again, as if this was a normal vacation they were taking, and as if her brother wouldn’t be dead in a couple of days.

* * *

Within an hour, they were at the marker. McVries passed his ID card up to his dad, the gate lifted, and they were pulling into the parking lot. They couldn’t have turned back earlier, but there  _ really  _ was no escape now. The sliding shut of the gate was final. The last nail in the coffin.

The McVries family could leave, but this was it for Pete.

They pulled into a parking space, and his dad put the car in park. It was like the entire car let out a breath. Even Katrina was quiet now. His parents got out of the car. His father came around to the passenger side of the car and stood close to his mother before enveloping her in a hug. 

McVries turned to Katrina, who was looking at him with wide, frightened eyes. “Petie, what’s going on?” she asked, in that small voice again. 

“I’m going on the Long Walk,” he said. Katrina looked at him blankly. She had heard of the Long Walk- everyone had- but she’d never seen it. She didn’t understand. “I’m gonna be gone for a little while.” It was a lie, of course it was a lie. But how was he supposed to tell his four year old sister he was gonna die? 

“It’ll be an adventure,” she said, soft but uneasy.

“Yeah, it will be,” he smiled. “Listen, Kat. I love you. Be good, okay?”

“Of course, Petie.” Then she hugged him, and it took all McVries had not to start crying. He’d never get to see his sister grow up. In the moment, he felt like a real heel.

After breaking off the hug, McVries smoothed down Katrina’s hair and kissed her on the forehead. Then, he got out of the car. He slung his backpack over his shoulders and went to stand next to his parents. His mother’s eyes were watery with barely contained tears. His father, who had been so angry with him just a few hours before, now just looked sad. They looked older and more tired than he’d ever seen them, and that scared him.

The three stood in a close cluster for a couple moments, saying nothing. Their shadows were long and amorphous on the asphalt.

His dad broke the silence. “We’re gonna stay in Presque Isle for a couple days. Until it’s…” He trailed off, choosing his words. “Uh, until it’s over.”

McVries nodded. He didn’t know what to say. What do you say to your parents when you’re about to die? Thanks for raising me? Take care of Katrina? I’ll miss you? “Thanks,” he said at last, and then his mom was throwing her arms around his neck and crying softly into his shoulder. He hugged her back. After they broke apart, his mom leaned against the car, wrapping her arms around her frame as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. He hugged his dad next. His dad looked so resigned now, a far cry from the man he was a few hours earlier. 

“Do your best,” his dad said as he stepped away. 

His mom kissed his cheek one more time. “I love you, Pete,” she said. “Be safe.”

It was a stupid thing of her to say, but he nodded. The three of them lingered there, not wanting to part from each other. Throughout the parking lot, engines were roaring to life and people were beginning to leave. McVries figured it was almost time.

“I guess I should go,” he said, and he and his parents exchanged quick hugs one more time. They got into the car, and McVries took a few steps away. He waved as his dad put the car into reverse and then they were pulling away, on their way back to Presque Isle. 

It felt surreal, standing here alone, saying goodbye to his family for the last time. The gate closed again behind the rental car and his family was gone. McVries stood there for a few more moments, kicking at the asphalt. Then he turned from the gate towards the marker. Already many boys were gathered, sitting under a large tree. 

McVries prepared to join them. This was his adventure, and it was about to begin.

  
  



End file.
